What Are the Stages of PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease)

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is a hereditary disease and accounts up to 5~10% of the total population with End Stage Renal Failure (ESRF). According to the disease progression regularities, PKD can be divided into 5 stags.

Stage 1 of PKD :emergency period

PKD is a genetic disease. Some people are born with cysts growing on their kidneys. When the cysts are small, the disease is hard to be inspected out. In most of the cases, the patients do not find the disease before 20 years old. However, if there is someone having PKD in the family, the other family members should go for inspection as early as possible to find if they have renal the disease in the first time and take some preventive measures to delay the cysts enlargement.

Stage2 of PKD : growth period

Between 30~40 years old, PKD develops into growth period. At this stage, the cysts enlarge at a very fast speed. In western medicines, there is no an effective therapy for PKD at this stage. The patients just receive some treatments focusing on its symptoms like high blood pressure. In fact, the patients should take active treatment aiming at blocking cysts enlargement and improving blood circulation so as to improve the life expectancy of the patients with PKD.

Stage 3 of PKD : enlargement period

After 40 years old, the cysts will enlarge further at a very fast speed. When the cysts enlarge than 4 cm, PKD develops into enlargement period. With the enlargement of cysts, the patients will have a series of clinical symptoms like back pain, proteinuria, hematuria, high blood pressure and so on.

Stage 4 of PKD : rupture period

If the cysts enlarge continuously, they are very likely to rupture. Once the cysts rupture, the patients should go to see a doctor at once and prevent infection effectively. Moreover, they should take effective treatment to shrink the large cysts and prevent the further enlargement of the cysts.

Stage 5 of PKD : uremia period

In this stage, the patients with PKD will have a series of serious symptoms like anemia, nerve disease, and bone disease and so on. At this stage, the patients should receive proper treatment to repair the impaired renal functional cells so as to improve the renal function. In this way, it is possible for them to avoid dialysis and kidney transplant.

The earlier the patients with  receive PKD treatment, the better the prognosis will be. Therefore, if there is a family history in the family, the family members should do checks regularly so as to find if they are affected by PKD as early as possible.

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